


Hooked On A Feeling

by seagreen-meets-grey (haddxck)



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, lots of banter, they play mario kart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:40:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24559321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haddxck/pseuds/seagreen-meets-grey
Summary: When Hiccup and Astrid realize they've never hung out alone before, they decide to change that. And how do you better spend time with your Good Friend than by playing Mario Kart all night?
Relationships: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III/Astrid Hofferson
Comments: 21
Kudos: 103





	1. Come A Little Bit Closer

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not even going to pretend that I didn't expect this "short" to end up so long that I had to split it. I'm supposed to be working on my bachelor thesis, dammit! :'D
> 
> The soundtrack to this fic is the Guardians of the Galaxy Complete Mixtape. You'll know why.  
> (Title and chapter titles are songs from the playlist.)

Hiccup was at his fourth beer when he noticed.

He was leaning against the railing of Justin’s balcony, the cold night air cooling his skin, warm from the heat of the living room and the alcohol. It was game night, a tradition he and his friends had started over two years ago when none of them had really known anyone yet, trying to find their place on Berk’s huge university campus. Some of them had been in the same campus tour group on day one, the rest had met in class. If Hiccup recalled correctly, it had been Justin, also known as Fishlegs among his friends, who had suggested a night of board games and bonding, which had turned into a bi-weekly event of drinking and trash-talking each other over SingStar, Monopoly, Cards Against Humanity and the like.

Currently, they were taking a quick break from playing. Tuffnut and Snotlout needed a smoke break, Fishlegs one of his many potty breaks, and the rest of them just went along.

Hiccup was fairly sure that Tuff’s twin sister was filling up everyone’s water glasses with vodka, which would at least result in a hilarious moment of spitting out drinks all over Hiccup’s Monopoly board. He had long ago decided to never take his Game of Thrones board to game night if he didn’t want it back sticky and covered in oily crumbs.

He had opened a new beer bottle and followed Tuff, Snot and Astrid outside, engrossed in a conversation about the latest rumor about two of their professors dating.

By the time the two cigarettes were merely tiny smoldering dots in the ashtray on the windowsill, snowflakes started to descend silently from the dark sky. Snotlout looked up and stuck out his tongue to catch one, but it fell into his eye which made him whine and dramatically stagger off to the bathroom to wash it out, with an excited Tuff in tow who began to tell him a story of one of his many cousins who supposedly went blind from a snowflake in his eye.

“Muttonheads,” Astrid mumbled when the boys were gone.

Hiccup grinned and shook his head. “If we’re lucky, Tuff manages to make Snot so paranoid that we can sell him anything that will apparently prevent him from going blind.”

Astrid leaned against the railing next to him, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. “I’m intrigued, Haddock. Keep talking.”

Animated by her reaction, he fell into his habit of gesticulating while talking, beer bottle still in hand. “Like, we could tell him about this old myth that says making bad choices in board games will increase your body’s healing capabilities.”

“Yes!” Astrid pointed a finger at him. “We’ll let Tuff scare him further with his ridiculous tales about cousins he doesn’t have, and he’ll eat right out of our hands.”

She was beaming at the chance to mess with their friend, and for a while, they kept brainstorming ideas to make Snotlout lose at Monopoly on purpose.

He was taking another sip of his beer when it hit him.

“Hey,” he interrupted her newest plan and she raised her eyebrows in question. “You know what I just realized?”

“That most of our friends share one brain cell?”

He chuckled. “No, I already knew about that. I meant… We’ve never, you know, done this before.” He gesticulated between him and Astrid.

“Messed with our friends?”

“No. No, I mean, I mean we do that a lot, but… But, you know, we never-- we never hung out like this before, just- just the two of us.”

He could see the same realization dawn on her. “Oh my god, you’re right.”

“Haven’t we?”

“We haven’t!” She shook her head disbelievingly. “How long have we been friends now? Almost three years, right?”

Hiccup nodded. “True. And we never really hung out outside this group.”

Astrid shivered and gestured with her head to go back inside. “We _have_ to change that.”

They sat back down next to each other on the large sofa. Astrid reached for her water glass but was smart enough to sniff at it before taking a sip. From the corner of his eye, Hiccup spotted Ruffnut peering over in anticipation. He heard her curse when Astrid took the nearest bottle of coke and filled her glass to the brim. She took a scrutinizing sip, scrunching up her face for a second, shrugged and settled with it.

“So what do we do?” she asked, taking another sip.

Hiccup hummed in thought, crossed his arms and leaned back, tapping the neck of his almost empty bottle against his arm. “And when do we do it?”

“Do what?” Fishlegs asked, sitting down in front of his side of the Monopoly board.

“Hang out,” Hiccup and Astrid said in unison. Astrid held up her hand and without looking Hiccup gave her a high-five.

“Uhm,” Tuffnut said and made an open gesture. “Aren’t you hanging out right now?” He squinted his eyes. “Or is _hanging out_ what the kids are calling it these days?”

Astrid threw a game piece at him and Hiccup felt a blush rise to his cheeks. “Hanging out as friends, you muttonhead!” she yelled.

“Right,” Tuff said, although Hiccup could tell he didn’t quite get it yet – or believed it.

“Hey, Hiccup,” Fishlegs chimed in, “didn’t you order Mario Kart for your Switch last week?”

“I did!” Hiccup sat up straight and turned towards Astrid. “All 48 races. Next Friday. We stay up all night. Loser buys the other a Christmas gift.” He offered her his hand.

She considered it for a second. “No falling asleep and the gift has a cost limit.”

They shook hands.

“Deal.”

* * *

Hiccup was at her place at nine, his Switch and Mario Kart game in his bag, as well as the ingredients to their self-made pizza. In return, her fridge was filled with energy drinks.

They said cheers with the first can and started on the pizza.

Astrid’s apartment had underfloor-heating that made the kitchen warm and cozy. Outside in the dark night, more snow was falling, covering the world in a white blanket. Music was coming from Astrid’s portable loudspeaker box.

“Someone’s been watching Guardians of the Galaxy,” Hiccup noted while he rolled out the premade dough on the griddle to the Marvel movie’s official mixtape.

“Nah, just dug it out when I went through my playlists.” She started humming and dancing on the spot where she was cutting onions on the kitchen counter.

She could feel the caffeine from the energy drink settle in her system. Using her knife as a microphone, she twirled around to face Hiccup at the kitchen table. “ _I’m hooked on a feeling!_ ” she sang, taking joy in the way Hiccup started laughing at how off-key she sounded. “ _I’m high on believing!_ ” She slid across the tiles in her beloved blue fleece socks, holding the knife-mic out to Hiccup.

“ _That you’re in love with me!_ ” he sang into the fake-mic, equally off-key. She danced back to her cutting board and took another large gulp of energy drink. Not that she thought that hanging out with Hiccup wouldn’t be fun, but she just hadn’t anticipated it to be this nice.

While the pizza was in the oven, she opened her second drink and pulled Hiccup to his feet. Later, she claimed it was the caffeine coursing through both their bodies that made them decide they should have a dance-off right there in her small kitchen. Sliding on soft socks, slipping and catching themselves on the furniture or each other, they alternated between battling each other in ridiculous dance moves and twirling each other around, bumping into the table and counter several times.

When the oven timer went off, Hiccup loaded three big pieces each on two plates while Astrid disappeared into her little study room and came back with a DVD case in her hand.

“I’m up for some _Home Alone_ , how about you?” She really hoped he wasn’t one of those people who hated the movie. Christmas time was _Home Alone_ time for her.

“Am I ever!” Hiccup exclaimed and Astrid whooped and skipped off to her bedroom. He took a deep breath before he followed her, smile ever-present on his face.

They settled on her queen-sized bed, the desk with the large TV she got from her uncle Finn for her birthday in front of it, pizza and energy drinks on a tray between them.

Hiccup was impressed with the accuracy and passion with which she recited basically half the movie. But her amused expressions told him he didn’t fare any different with his impressions of Kevin and the bandits alike.

"I always think," she said when Kevin prepared his master trap, "that I'm glad Kevin seems to know what he's doing. Would have been a fucking chaos if he didn't."

Hiccup nodded vigorously. "Wanna know a fun fact about me?"

She peeled her eyes away from the screen and looked at him, genuine interest in her eyes.

"When I was a kid- actually, it started when I was a kid, and when I was fifteen, I was, like– Anyway, um… Basically, Kevin McCallister was my childhood hero."

"Oh, no." The dread in her voice didn't match the anticipating grin on her face.

"Yep," he said, popping the p. "Made my parents' life hell, especially because my inventions and traps never worked the way I wanted them to."

"Oh my god," she laughed.

"My father still doesn't let me live down the day I decided to rebuild the zipline Kevin uses to get from the house to his tree house."

"But it shouldn't even work in the movie, like, all of these traps are bullshit, realistically speaking." She wiped tears from laughter out of her eye.

Hiccup gave her a deadpan expression. "Well, fifteen-year-old me was confident he had made the right tweaks."

"What happened?"

"Umm…" He averted his face and she leaned over the tray to shake his shoulder.

"Now you _have_ to tell me!"

Hiccup sighed and turned back to her, trying to keep up his serious expression. "I had fastened the end of the line, the one that started at the house, on the windowpane. At that point we were living in this old house with wooden panes. You can probably guess where this is going."

"Nope, totally lost. Don't leave out even one detail." Hiccup shot her an unbelieving expression, but she kept looking at him with that twinkle in her eyes, so he gave in with a defeated sigh.

"Fine, the wood was too old, it snapped when I jumped, I fell and broke my left leg in two places. Had to wear a cast for _weeks_. From then on, I was done with those experiments."

“But you’re studying engineering.”

He shrugged. “Exactly. Never said I was done with all kinds of experiments forever.”

A sly grin formed on Astrid’s face right when on TV the hot iron trap went off. “Let’s use the energy that kept young Hiccup going on Snotlout and the twins.”

He slowly shook his head. “You. Are. Evil.”

“Nope, not evil.” She opened two new cans of energy drinks and handed him one. “Just working with what I got to make the world a better place in these difficult times of Snotfaces and Nuts.”

He snorted and threw her an amused look. He was definitely in the right company.

* * *

“Alright.” Astrid stretched in the middle of her room and cracked her knuckles. “Let’s do this. I’m ready to destroy you.”

Hiccup just hummed disbelievingly from where he was setting up his gaming system. “Better open the windows for a few minutes first, the air in here is really bad.” When Astrid did just that, he added, “because it smells of loser!”

“That’s because of you,” she countered without batting an eye.

“I know, my fault, I should have thrown you out earlier.” A pair of socks flew over his head while he was plugging in the HDMI cable. "Miss me, miss me, now you gotta kiss me."

"Keep that up and I'll have to kiss you for real."

Hiccup looked up at her and saw her eyes dart back up from somewhere below his midriff. He looked at the backside of his pants. Did he have a stain there? He couldn’t find anything. Dismissing it with a shrug, he joined Astrid on the bed again. She handed him his energy can, opening another one for herself. This couldn’t be good for their health.

While the game was loading, Astrid repeated the rules. “We play all 48 races. We can’t fall asleep. If one of us does, the other is strictly obligated to wake them up. Loser buys the other a Christmas present but it has a clear cost limit.”

“Wouldn’t we get each other little gifts anyway?”

“Additional present, then.” She took a large gulp of her drink.

“I don’t think you should drink so much of that stuff; your body’s energy will drop tremendously as soon as the effect wears off, and you’ll fall asleep. Also, you’ll get diarrhea.”

She threw him an unimpressed look while he took a sip as well. “Look who’s talking. Besides, I know my own body. I’ve done this before.”

“Sure,” Hiccup shrugged and dipped his head back to drain the can. “Let’s deal with it when the time comes.” He wasn’t able to keep still anymore, wiggling his toes to countermeasure the pace of his heart. Definitely not good for their health. They really shouldn’t do this. There was a pop and a sizzling sound and he was handed a new drink. Oh, well.

When the Mario Kart home screen came up, Hiccup took his controller and chose the right settings. Astrid grabbed the other one and tested out the buttons. It had been a while since she’d last played it, but Hiccup was dead certain she hadn’t forgotten how to properly kick his butt. Or, as he would make sure in tonight’s case, die trying. He’d love an additional Christmas present from her, and he’d love even more to destroy her. Smirk on his face, he moved the stick to choose his character as she did the same.

“You can’t be serious!” Astrid yelled accusatory. “Link isn’t even a Mario character!”

“So?” he shrugged. “He’s a choosable character and you know I love Legend of Zelda.”

She wasn’t having any of it. “You can’t play a non-Mario character in a Mario game, Hiccup.”

“He’s still a Nintendo character, and what’s the big deal?”

“We said we would play this right, so no characters from other games. Choose another one!”

“If I have to pick a character other than the one I always pick, you have to do the same,” he argued. “No Bowser for you, milady!”

“At least he’s from Mario.”

“Do it properly, Astrid!” He grinned. “If I have to repick, then so do you.”

She groaned and rolled her eyes. “Fine! But I don’t trust you with this. I’ll choose for you.”

He stuck out his hand. “Only if I get to choose for you.” They shook on the deal and switched controllers.

“Let’s see…” Astrid mumbled while going through the different available characters. “Got it!” She pushed a button to confirm her selection.

“What?!” He threw his hands up in indignation. “Why am I Waluigi?!”

“Because he looks like you.”

“Pah!” He quickly selected her character. “I guess you’re Baby Peach, then.”

She huffed. “Really, Hiccup?! Because she’s blonde?”

“No,” he said, smirk back on his face, “because she's a helpless baby and she, too, needs saving all the time because she keeps getting kidnapped by the same dude over and over again and she’s a bi– _uff!_ “ She shut him up by surprise-tackling him to the mattress.

“Oh, really? Who needs saving now, huh?”

He struggled underneath her, but she had him pinned down with her full weight. His chest was warm underneath her arms and his face very close to hers. She furrowed her brows. Had he always had that many freckles? And did he know that there were so many shades of green in his eyes? She noticed the stubble on his chin, and he actually smelled really nice.

When her face suddenly started to feel hot, she did the first thing that came to her mind; she pushed him off the bed.

“ _Ow_ , why would you do that?!” Hiccup pulled himself up on the edge of the bed, and Astrid hoped he hadn’t seen the blush that was only slowly leaving her cheeks. But he had seen it.

For a moment, he frowned in confusion. Why was she acting so flustered?

“That’s for making me Baby Peach and comparing me to her,” she said evenly, trying to sound nonchalant, but she would still not meet his eyes. _Huh._ Maybe he could work with that, he thought, caffeine pulsing in his blood – whatever weird thing was going on.

They settled back into position next to each other, an arm’s length of space between them, and started the game. While they were racing over Cheep Cheep Beach, throwing shells and bananas at each other, Astrid didn’t say a word. Hiccup made a few comments every now and then and tried to trash-talk her, but she didn’t seem to hear him. Her face was focused but her eyes were far away. He hoped she wasn’t mad at him because of the Baby Peach thing.

His character broke through the finish line first.

“Wait, what?!” she shouted, perplexed, after she came in sixth.

Hiccup grinned mischievously at her. “Maybe you should pay more attention to the game if you want to win.”

“I was paying attention,” she insisted, “it’s because of stupid Baby Peach, she’s useless! Let’s start anew with _our_ characters.”

Hiccup feigned shock, holding his hand to his heart. “What, you – Astrid Hofferson – want to back out after only one race?!”

She glared at him and raised her chin with determination. “I’ll show you a race, _Waluigi_!”

“That’s what I thought.”

Racing through the Water Park course, Astrid did her best to keep her concentration on the game, but her attention was continuously diverted. Why was it so nice to be so close to Hiccup and why was she suddenly so aware of him? She could feel his body heat next to her where they were sitting on her bed in their pajamas at 1 a.m. She’s had five energy drinks and she kind of wanted to make out with him.

It didn’t help at all that, during the next five races, his leg moved closer to hers inch by inch until their knees were touching, and from time to time, he shifted on his butt and leaned very close to her in the process. He let out this quiet chuckle that pierced straight through her heart and then he was suddenly sitting normally again and she realized she’d been driving against walls for a minute.

He won the fifth race with several positions ahead of her and she wanted to whack her controller on his stupid face.

“Whohoo!” Hiccup shouted, celebrating by jumping up from the bed and doing a little dance in front of the TV.

“You cheated,” she grumbled when he let himself fall back next to her.

“Astrid, you can’t cheat on Mario Kart.”

“You also don’t play a non-Mario character on Mario Kart and yet here we are,” she countered.

“But I’m not even playing Link.”

“Yes, because I saved you from that.”

“I never needed saving. See, that’s the difference between me and Peach–“

She punched him on the arm, shutting him up. “Feeling overconfident, are we?”

“Score.” He pointed at the ranking list on the screen.

“Pff,” she made, “we’re just getting started, Haddock.”

With matching competitive grins, they got ready for the next race.

“Ha!” Astrid exclaimed when she sent a blue shell for Hiccup on the N64 Rainbow Road and lead the brigade of opponents rushing past him, claiming her first victory of the night.

She finally went on a winning streak, the adrenaline that came with it keeping her from getting drowsy, unlike the not-cheating cheater next to her. Nine races later, she stretched her arms with a loud yawn and used the pause to check the messages on her phone while Hiccup leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes.

It wasn’t long until his head rolled to the side and came to rest on her shoulder, his even breaths tickling her neck. She bit her lip. They’d agreed to stay awake, but she couldn’t find it in herself to wake him while he looked so peaceful and relaxed.

The loop of their characters cheering on the screen behind the updated ranking list went on, the music becoming background noise while she went through every social media feed on her phone, ignoring the increasing pressure in her bladder.

But more than a liter of energy drink had the power of two days’ worth of water, and it started to feel like it was trying to turn her insides out. She regretfully and carefully moved Hiccup’s head out of the way, immediately missing its weight on her shoulder and the warmth of his body leaning against her side.

Peeing felt like the liberation of France and she sighed in relief. Maybe she could be back before Hiccup woke up.

She wasn’t. When she came back from the bathroom, he was stretching on her bed, bleary-eyed and disarmingly cute with his messy hair, rubbing his eyes and face like a child.

“You broke a rule,” he yawned. “You didn’t wake me.”

“I didn’t notice you’d fallen asleep, doofus. I was in the bathroom.” She settled back on the blanket, making sure to leave a little space between them lest she got foolishly distracted by him again.

He reached over her to grab another energy drink and she could swear he was smirking. But when she eyed him properly, his eyes were big and innocent, a little red-rimmed from being tired and staring at a screen for so long. Choosing to forget the whole thing, she resumed the game.


	2. Fooled Around And Fell In Love

Hiccup needed to pee so badly.

Ever since he’d dozed off earlier, he’d become more uncomfortable by the minute. He really didn’t want to leave his position now. It had taken him so long to shuffle ever closer to Astrid again and his whole slow process of inch by inch would be lost. But another painful pinch from his bladder later, he couldn’t take it anymore.

Pausing the game mid-race, he put his controller to the side, moved to sit up, and did the next without thinking. He leaned over, kissed Astrid on the cheek as if it were the most natural thing in the world and left to the bathroom.

As soon as he’d closed the door behind him, he froze, eyes wide as saucers. What had just happened? Why the hell had he done that?!

Only his bladder was able to get him to move again and after he’d relieved himself, he began pacing through the bathroom.

He couldn’t just go back now; it would be so awkward. He’d just ruined the night. Maybe he should just stay in here forever or sneak out the window and never come back. But his Switch was still here and he couldn’t just jump from the second floor.

It shouldn’t even be that big of a deal. They were good friends – best friends, even. And it was just a kiss on the cheek. But for some reason, it suddenly felt like so much more.

Too afraid to go back and face her reaction, he continued pacing back and forth, then in circles, then he lay face down on the floor with a loud muffled groan. He didn’t know how long he’d been in here by now. She must be thinking he was either taking a very huge dump or that he’d fallen asleep on the bowl.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid,” he chastised himself, accentuating every word by banging his forehead on the fluffy carpet.

The knock on the door made him wince. “Hiccup?” _Fuck._ “Everything okay?”

He scrambled to get up, mussing up his hair in an attempt to smooth it, and opened the door, leaning as casually as possible against the frame. “’M fine.”

“Right,” she frowned and pushed her bangs out of her face. “Do you want to go outside for a bit? Take a walk, clear our head of… the tiredness?”

“Yes,” he said maybe a little too immediately. Some fresh air while walking through the dark where they couldn’t see each other’s face very well sounded so much better than sitting next to each other in a stuffy room after such a terribly awkward situation.

They donned their coats and left the house. The cold air hit their faces, cooling the blood that was still rushing through their veins.

Astrid was glad that she’d taken the time to go back to her room to get her warm hat and mittens while Hiccup had been waiting for her outside. In the soft light of the moon reflecting off the snow beneath their feet, her breath condensed in front of her face. Wiggling her toes inside her boots to warm them up for the walk, she switched on her flashlight and tested the range of the light cone. The batteries should hold for a while.

They walked down the quiet street, only the flashlight and a few lamps here and there illuminating their path. It had stopped snowing for the most part, a handful of stars blinking in the sky in-between thick clouds. Her light reflected off the sign that informed them they were leaving Berk, right over the smaller sign pointing in the direction of Raven Point Lake.

For a while, neither of them talked. Astrid was rather glad about the silence that was only interrupted by the snow scrunching under their every step, still a little flustered by this new tension between herself and her _friend_. She was wondering if her heart was beating that fast because of Hiccup or because she’d had way too much sugar and caffeine. It was probably both.

She watched him from the corner of her eye, taking note of the thoughtful lines on his face. Was he having similar thoughts, maybe overthinking everything in true Hiccup fashion, or was she the one attributing too much importance to every interaction?

“Look, I’m vaping,” Hiccup broke the silence and exhaled a large cloud of breath.

Astrid snorted. “Wow, I’m amazed. I thought you were contemplating the meaning of the universe just now, but turns out there is a hamster inside your brain running backwards on its wheel.”

“His name is Sharpshot, because he’s such a sharp shot,” Hiccup said. “He’s a hamster that knows how to run backwards, that must count for something.”

“You’re not funny.”

“Astrid, I can see you grin.”

She switched off her flashlight. “No, you can’t.”

Naturally, he tripped only the blink of an eye later. But instead of faceplanting into the snow, which would have been pretty hilarious, he got hold of her arm and saved himself. “I don’t want to walk straight into the lake,” he declared and held onto her.

“I can still push you or lead you right into the water.”

“Nope, I’m smarter than you,” he claimed and let go of her arm to fish his phone out of his pocket and turned on its flash. She cursed the drop of her stomach at the loss of his touch.

“Cheater,” she huffed and switched her own light back on. When Hiccup put his phone back into his pocket, there was a tiny victorious smirk on his face which she deliberately chose to ignore.

They turned one more corner and reached the lake. The water was black and smooth as glass, the reflection of the moon nearly undistorted, only a few snowflakes softly creating miniature ripples on the surface. They trudged down the path along the shore, leisurely passing the ghosts of people jogging during the day, families on their Sunday stroll, sniffing dogs and their shivering owners, and the occasional old couple watching the commotion from one of the benches now covered in ice and snow.

There was that look on his face again, the one that creased his forehead, paled the many freckles on his skin and drenched his eyes in a darker color. She didn’t like it, had always felt like there was something wrong with the world when a spirit such as Hiccup’s could be pulled out of the sky by something stronger than gravity.

She’d seen a variation of that look before, albeit a much heavier, soul-crushing one, not quite two years ago. And now she couldn’t bear it either.

“How’s your mom doing?” she tentatively asked.

He looked up as if surprised she was still there, in the world outside his own head. “Mom’s doing fine.” The creases were gone and he playfully kicked at a frozen clump of grass, and Astrid wondered if he had even realized he’d drifted off into his own galaxy there for a moment.

She bit her lip and, for the first time since it had invaded her head, voiced the thought that had been sitting in a corner of her mind for months and had only come out again recently. “I’m sorry. I feel like I haven’t been there for you enough.”

He stopped walking. “Where is this suddenly coming from?”

“Well…” she shrugged, searching the lake for words. “We realized we’d never hung out alone before. That makes me think that I probably also wasn’t there for you enough when your mom was, you know…” Almost dying of cancer. Even she wasn’t brave enough to say it out loud, for she hated what it did to the life in Hiccup’s eyes.

He regarded her for a minute, then gave her a reassuring smile and continued down the path again. “Don’t worry. You were actually the most helpful, you know.”

“Really?” She caught up to him and frowned, remembering several incidents where she probably could have been more tactful, blurting out bold words before her sensitivity could join the party. “How so?”

“You didn’t pamper me or act like I was a bomb ready to go off any second. You were real with me when everyone else pretended that everything was fine. I don’t think I ever said thank you, so… Thanks.”

The sincerity in his voice warmed her from the inside, untwisting the knot there, and she punched him lightly on the arm. “You’re welcome.”

He pretended to be hurt but the twitching corners of his mouth betrayed him, so he quit the dramatics and draped an arm over her shoulder. “I’m glad you’re my friend.”

When she glanced over, she was caught in his smile. It was so genuine and soft and so close that she couldn’t think of a witty comeback on the fly, so she just nodded. “Me too.”

They had slowed to a stop, standing there in a halfway hug. As if it had waited for the invitation, the weird sexual tension from before snuck back up on them, dashing down the path and enveloping them with a thousand volts that gave Astrid goosebumps all over her arms and back.

Hiccup was the first to clear his throat and step away, rubbing at his neck. She brought the light up to his face, illuminating his skin, and she wondered if it was red from the cold or something else.

Her own runny nose and numb cheeks reminded her of the cold as well, inciting a longing for her fluffy socks and warm, cozy bed. “Let’s head back.”

“Good idea, my toes are freezing off.”

“Rather your toes than your fingers,” she said before shaking her head, competitive grin back on her face. “Scratch that, I can beat you faster if you lose your fingers.”

“Milady!” Hiccup mock-gasped. “That’s so cruel. I didn’t know you had it in you.”

“Yeah, you did.”

He shrugged and nodded. “Okay, yes, I did.” When he bumped her shoulder with his own, she retaliated by shoving him, making him stagger precariously. He caught himself and used his momentum to come after her, chasing her down the path. Laughing, she ran ahead of him, back to the street, and scooped up a handful of snow that she hurled at him the moment he turned the corner. He’d anticipated the attack, though, and ducked just in time to avoid being hit in the face. When he came back up, his hands were already forming a snowball, and the game was officially on.

They reached her house completely covered in white. Hiccup’s hair was wet from the snow she’d showered him with after he had stuck a handful down the back of her shirt, and her mittens were soaked.

After she put their boots next to the heater and hung her jacket, she still felt the adrenaline from their battle coursing through her. When Hiccup was tugging at his clammy socks, she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

“Just letting you know that I’m going to the bathroom.” She even winked for good measure before she left the room, his eyes burning through her all the way down the hall.

Not much later, they were lounging on her bed again, warm and dry and competitive, drinking their energy drinks and handling their controllers as if it was second nature at this point.

“How’d it go at Doctor Mala’s?” Hiccup broke the silence after a while of concentrated racing, only to backtrack right after. “Um, sorry. You don’t have to answer that if it’s too personal.”

A quick glance reassured him she was smiling, not glaring at him ready to strike. Asking the friend you’ve prior to now never spent time alone with how their visit at the dermatologist went probably overstepped some kind of line.

“First of all, why wouldn’t I tell you? You’re one of my closest friends.” Upon him opening his mouth to object, she added, “Even though we never hung out alone before now. I don’t define my closest friends by that kind of bullshit argument. Second, she said all my moles look fine. Nothing to worry about.”

He hadn’t even noticed the tension in his shoulders before they relaxed at her words. With her family history of skin cancer, _nothing to worry about_ was music to his ears. “That’s great. Both of what you said.” He bumped her elbow with his and earned her immediate complain.

“Hey, jackass! Are you trying to force me off the road?!”

“That’s the plan, Baby Peach.”

All she did in response was grumble and he was sure the name Waluigi was mentioned in the same breath as a few of her favorite swear words. The smile on his face was wiped clean, though, the second he took a look at the current positions of the characters and cursed. “We fucked up, Astrid. Look who’s up front!”

“ _What?!_ ” She leaned forward and smacked her hands complete with controller on her crossed legs, exasperated. “Not him! He’s the most boring one!”

“Well, step on it, milady! We can’t let him win!”

For the next few races, they actually worked together to bring Mario down a few positions, burying their rivalry until he was defeated. After that, their truce was dropped immediately.

During a break in-between races, Astrid stretched her arms over her head and Hiccup had to avert his eyes when her shirt rode up a few inches and revealed a patch of skin right above the waistline of her sweatpants. The cute noises she made while stretching and yawning at the same time didn’t help at all and he felt his face go very warm.

“I don’t know about you,” she yawned, “but I could kill for some hot cacao right now. You want some?”

“Hm-hmm.”

“Sweet.” In one motion, she swung her legs over the edge of the bed, stood up and bounced on her toes. It took him a bit longer to get out of his comfortable position, tired as he was, so he accepted her outstretched hand gladly. He blamed it on his lack of sleep that he didn’t let go right away, allowing her to pull him out of the room before dropping her hand.

The kitchen still smelled of pizza, even though one window was slightly ajar. The underfloor-heating warmed his feet and for a minute he considered warming up a piece of the pizza. But he decided that would require too much effort. Instead, he was content with watching Astrid grab two mugs from her cupboard, fill them with milk and cacao powder and put them in the microwave.

She, too, had briefly considered eating more pizza. But her mind had gotten sidetracked when she’d looked over at Hiccup and found him staring bleary-eyed at the food. Her inner voice screamed _cute_ so loudly, it drowned out every other thought.

She had to force herself back to her task at hand, which was to prepare the hot cacao, not to drool over the sight of her suddenly hard to resist friend. Sure, he’d always been adorable, but right now, when she looked at him in her kitchen in the middle of the night, wearing pajamas and leaning against the fridge like he belonged here, her heart began racing in her chest like it was a Mario Kart player and her stomach felt like it was zooming over Rainbow Road.

Where was all this coming from all of a sudden? She tried figuring out if she’d always felt this way or if it was just now developing at rapid speed, but she wasn’t capable of thinking clearly at the moment; she was way too distracted – and tired. Her fingers started twitching against the mugs as she put them in the microwave and set the timer.

For a minute, she watched the porcelain spin slowly as the invisible heat waves did their thing. When she turned around, she found Hiccup regarding her through sleepy eyes, and a sudden urge, spurred on by her raving heart, set her muscles into motion.

Before she could think about it, she crossed the space between them, grabbed the collar of his shirt and yanked his lips down to hers. The muffled sound of surprise got stuck in his throat as he completely froze against her. When several moments had passed and he was still imitating a statue, the rational part of her brain caught up with her. This had been a very bad idea.

The ping of the microwave suddenly brought life back into Hiccup. He pulled back from her and awkwardly shuffled out of her grasp that left his shirt crumpled where her fist had held onto it like the tattered end of a rope dangling over a bottomless abyss.

“Oh, look at that,” he exclaimed, voice a little too loud, and dedicated his entire focus to the microwave and its content. “The hot cacao is done. _Ow_ , and it’s hot!” An awkward chuckle escaped him while he fumbled with the mugs, avoiding looking at her at any cost. “Who would have thought, right? That hot cacao is hot? Not me, certainly.” He made a face as if he’d just bitten into a big lemon and regretted it deeply.

Astrid didn’t regret anything – but she had to admit, certain decisions of hers hadn’t played out very favorable. For once in her life, she should have thought before taking action. Her knack for impulse decisions had finally come to bite her in the butt. She knew Hiccup, and she knew he was going to avoid the whole topic for a while until he felt like the awkwardness of the situation had cooled down, and then he was going to avoid ever talking about it again.

But she wanted to talk about it. Because her impulses didn’t just happen, they were based on instinct. And her instincts had given her the impression that there was something between them tonight, a tension that certainly couldn’t have been only one-sided. Or was that just wishful thinking?

Her thoughts racing, she quietly followed Hiccup back to her room. Neither of them said a word as they settled back on the bed, quite some space between them. They sipped at their chocolate drinks and stared at the TV for a while until Astrid couldn’t take the uncomfortable silence anymore and exchanged her mug for her controller. Hiccup followed her lead and soon enough they were back at insulting each other over the game.

Astrid almost let out a sigh of relief when the awkward tension from earlier dissolved and made way for their usual playful banter. At some point, they would have to talk about what happened there in the kitchen, but for now, she was content with kicking his ass at a video game that he was way better at than she would have liked. He was serious competition and somehow, that sent a shiver down her spine as her lips tingled pleasantly.

After every race, the amount of liquid in their mugs became lesser and the final races came closer. They were head to head at the top of the ranking list, too far ahead of the rest of the characters to be outrun by anyone anymore. It was just her and Hiccup fighting for the ultimate victory, for the pride and bragging rights that came with it, and the privilege of receiving an extra Christmas present.

She tipped her head back to chug down the last of her chocolate, put her mug away and reached for her controller to start the next race, when Hiccup suddenly leaned towards her.

“Hold on,” he mumbled and lifted his hand to her face. “You got some foam right there.” His brows furrowed in concentration as his finger gingerly stroked over the skin at the edge of her lips. She didn’t dare to move when he hesitated to pull his hand back.

His fingers wandered further, every micromotion leaving fiery tingles in its wake. Her breath hitched when his skin touched her lips and lightly traced over every line and curve, with undivided attention to first her lower, then her upper lip. Transfixed, she didn’t realize she was leaning forward until he moved his hand to her neck and brought his face closer to hers, equally mesmerized.

This time, he didn’t freeze. The first brush of lips was chaste and hesitant, like he was testing the waters, as if her blatantly kissing him earlier hadn’t been obvious enough. When she leaned more firmly into him, signaling him that she wouldn’t reject him, he grew more confident, burying his other hand in her hair, pulling her closer. She sat on her legs and wrapped her arms around his neck.

He tasted like liquid chocolate, and when she slid her tongue along his lower lip, there was something else sugary, something more artificial – energy drink. Her heart was pounding, pumping blood through her veins that she was sure was made of sheer viscous caffeine.

Her chest felt like it was flooded with molten caramel, powered by the rush of soft lips meeting hers over and over again, of teeth colliding, followed by a breathy chuckle and a new approach to get it right. She tilted her head a little further and goosebumps broke out over her neck when the hand in her hair wandered lower to join the other.

Trivial concepts like time and space became irrelevant. If sleep hadn’t been pressing against the insides of her temple, she’d have embraced the idea of staying like this forever.

But, as bubblegum had been teaching humanity for ages, every bubble had to burst at some point. This particular one was maliciously speared by the razor-sharp tip of the pike that was her alarm clock.

She almost bit her tongue – or Hiccup’s, because who was to say at this point – in an effort to scramble up and get to her phone. She knew it was somewhere on her desk, discarded underneath various folders and clothes she’d thrown there while half-heartedly cleaning her room earlier that day. And there it was, blaring her latest favorite metalcore song, buried underneath a t-shirt and an old bra. After a few hectic swipes of her thumb, she shut the alarm off and shoved the bra back underneath the pile of chaos.

“Sorry, forgot to turn it off.” Blasted mood killer at seven in the morning!

When she turned around, though, she doubted Hiccup had heard a word of what she’d just said. He was sitting there staring in her general direction through foggy eyes, dreamy smile on his face. She settled back next to him, shoulder to shoulder, and experimentally said, “I really think Baby Peach is the best character of them all, seriously. And Waluigi? I’d do him, if you know what I mean.”

His elaborate answer consisted of an absentminded hum as his eyes never left her profile. Very nice, she could work with that.

Without further ado, she took her controller, leaned more comfortably against Hiccup and started the next race. She didn’t say a word, just concentrated on the game, a shrewd smile on her face. It wasn’t as if she was hiding anything from him. He just didn’t pay attention, and she wasn’t going to let that opportunity go in favor of her victory looming on the horizon.

It took him an embarrassing time of two laps around the race course to notice.

“Hey!” he complained, finally returning to planet Earth and grabbing his controller. “Now who’s the cheater?!”

Her grin only grew wider. “What am I supposed to do when you’re too busy staring at me?”

“How about ‘not cheat’?!” Waluigi slowly joined the race, his cart jerkily moving across the bumpy grass where he’d been catapulted by the other racers passing him on their war to victory.

“I wasn’t cheating,” she said with as much sweet innocence as she could muster, fully aware he wasn’t buying any of it. “I thought you would notice that the game was back on.”

He huffed and feigned being offended. “You did that on purpose. Is everything you do just a trick to make sure you win?”

“Of course. I thought you knew that by now, slowpoke.” And with that, she crossed the finish line. Despite his best efforts, Hiccup came in last, unable to make up for the distance even the slowest character had on him at this point.

With the advance Astrid had just gained, it was impossible for him to beat her now, and two races later, she threw her hands in the air with a cry of victory.

“YES! Eat my dust, losers! See that, _Waluigi_? I won!”

“Why do you have to say Waluigi’s name like it’s an insult? He would have destroyed you if you hadn’t cheated.” Hiccup pretended to sulk, but her cheery demeanor was contagious.

“Because Waluigi is…” she put her chin on his shoulder, “a big…” the hand holding her controller poked his cheek, “ugly…” it poked his forehead, “loooser!”

Hiccup pouted but she could see the corners of his mouth twitch. “You’re really proud of this, aren’t you? Winning in a family-friendly video game that children could play?”

“Don’t even try and play my victory down, loser. You know it’s an achievement.”

He raised an eyebrow and glanced at her from the corner of his eye. “You saying winning against me is an achievement? Because you’re right, it is. Not in your case, however, ‘cause you cheated, Baby Peach.”

In retort, she poked him in the side and watched with satisfaction as he winced. She repeated the motion and he continuously flinched away from her, until he grabbed her hands and pushed them away from him. “Stop tickling me, you’re defiling your already spoiled victory!”

“You said yourself that it’s not possible to cheat on Mario Kart.” Despite his efforts to keep her fingers at bay, she didn’t even think about giving up and pushed against his defense. “Hence, I won fair and square.”

“Can’t cheat in the game but can manipulate the other players. Fair and square my ass!”

“Are you trying to make me your enemy, loser?” She threw herself against him, successfully breaching his defense and tackling him to her bed for the second time that night. Once again, she felt the warmth of his body radiate through his clothes, could count the freckles on his face and admire the green of his eyes. This time, however, she didn’t get overwhelmed and push him off the mattress. And neither did he.

His arms enveloped her and pulled her closer until she was pressed down on his chest and her face was buried in his shoulder.

“Hmm,” he mused, “somehow, I feel like I won something, too.”

“You’re more cheesy than our pizza,” she told his shoulder, voice muffled against his shirt. Struggling against his hold on her, she tried to sit up, but he just tightened his arms around her.

“Nuh-uh, you’re not getting away! _Ow_!”

Kicking her knees into his bony legs seemed effective so she continued until he retaliated by jabbing his fingers into her sides. Now she was the one twitching from his attack, trying to escape while uncontrollable laughter filled her lungs and took her breath away.

After more than 24 hours of living on zero sleep and the adrenaline level built up by the caffeine crashing down, it wasn’t long until they both ran out of energy. Sitting up took a lot of joined effort, but it was worth it when she was leaning back against him in his loose embrace, his chin resting on her shoulder.

Outside her window, trees and roofs stood out as silhouettes against the dark gray sky. With every passing minute, a new detail appeared in the growing light. Soon enough, the first beam of golden fire glistened on the white mantle, illuminating the few silent snowflakes coming down from heady heights.

It was so comfortable, the picture so quiet and peaceful, the human blanket enveloping her so warm and cozy. The weight of her eyelids became heavier, the urge to succumb to sleep ever stronger. The land of dreams was calling for her like a siren singing for a poor sailor on his ship.

“You still awake?” the voice of her blanket mumbled.

“Hmm.”

The blanket stifled a yawn. “Do you think we would have ended up here sooner if we had hung out together much earlier?”

Astrid needed a minute to make sense of the words, her brain as foggy as the wafts of mist traveling through the fields outside her window. “Dunno, maybe. But for what it’s worth,” she opened her mouth wide for a yawn so long she almost forgot what she wanted to say, “but for what it’s worth, I always thought you were cute.”

The blanket chuckled and she could feel the low vibrations against her back. “I think I prefer sleep-deprived Astrid over regular Astrid. She says nice things to me.”

“Shut up.” For more she wasn’t capable. The talking blanket helped her lie under a different blanket and removed the socks from her feet before it settled back next to her.

“Sleep tight,” a voice she somehow associated with love songs, caramel and snowball fights whispered in her ear, and it was the last thing she remembered before she fell asleep.

The first time she woke up, she had trouble making sense of her surroundings. She was wearing her sweatpants and comfiest bra to sleep and there was someone sawing logs inside her room. Blinking her eyes open just a crack, she immediately closed them again against the light shining through her window like it was trying to blind her.

After a minute of orientation, she traced the lumberjack back to the extra body in her bed. With a groan, she half-heartedly shook it and complained, picking up an equally half-hearted sleep-filled apology before she felt the body change position, and the lumberjack was gone.

The second time she woke was when a heat wave broke out over her body. Her legs were cooking in her sweatpants and her bra was sticking to her skin. With closed eyes so they wouldn’t get burned by the light, she wiggled out of her pants and sat up to remove her bra, then teetered over to the window like a drunk person to open it a small crack.

When she settled back on her pillow, heat finally under control, a long arm sneaked over her waist and pulled her closer. Somehow, that new heat wasn’t that bad, and sleep pulled her back in.


	3. Go All The Way

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go, last chapter. So many hours put into this and now it's over after three days. WELP.  
> Thank you everyone who gave kudos or commented! I may not answer to every comment, but I read and appreciate each and every one of them!

Hiccup slowly blinked his eyes open.

Daylight was streaming through the window, along with a cool breeze that made him pull his blanket up to his chin. He had to bend his knees so his feet didn’t poke out on the other end, but there was little space for him to do so.

Astrid was lying on her back, arms folded over the covers, legs spread wide underneath like a starfish. His back hit the wall when he leaned back only slightly. It was no mystery who was in command over this large bed, he thought with a fond grin.

He could see her chest move with every even breath. A few strands of hair were hanging over the side of her face, quivering slightly with every exhale. Her braid was a mess, come loose in most places, spilling over her pillow like a golden meadow.

She looked so relaxed, so calm, so at peace that he didn’t dare to move lest he woke her, no matter how much his fingers twitched to gently push the hair out of her face.

The other reason he didn’t want her to wake up was that he didn’t know what had actually happened last night and what had been a dream. Had the flirty tension really hung between them the whole time? Had she really kissed him in her kitchen, had he panicked and made things awkward? Or was that just his subconscious trying to deal with the new things he felt for her that for some reason didn’t feel new at all?

Since there was no way he was able to go back to sleep now anyway, he figured he could at least try and make sense of this new dynamic between him and his _friend_.

Somehow, last night hadn’t come out of nowhere. It was like this thing had been building between them for a while and all it had needed had been a spark to ignite the fire. Spending time alone with only each other to focus on seemed to have done the trick. In his mind’s eye, he saw a slightly pixelated version of himself opening a chest and unlocking a new achievement. Next time he was playing Mario Kart, he’d go with Link, and Astrid could stick her stupid arguments elsewhere. _Waluigi_. Oh, please.

Hiccup didn’t know how long he’d been awake when she stirred, mumbling something incomprehensible under her breath, still drugged with sleep. When her eyelids began to twitch, he quickly closed his eyes and pretended to sleep like he’d not been staring at her like a creep.

For a few minutes, she was still, and he thought she’d fallen back asleep. But then she started blowing air on his face and he struggled not to break his sleeping poker face, failing spectacularly when he couldn’t hold it anymore and his shoulders started shaking.

“Ha! I knew you were awake!”

He opened his eyes, unable to keep his grin at bay, noticing with relief that she didn’t fare any better.

“Good morning.”

“It’s afternoon, Hiccup.”

“Good afternoon.”

“Good aft–“ She was interrupted by her stomach growling like a pack of hungry wolves in mid-winter. “Whoops. Guess it’s time for breakfast.”

When she crawled out from under the cozy blanket, Hiccup used the opportunity to sprawl out over the whole bed. The spot she’d just vacated was still warm and he snuggled into the pillow, humming contentedly. “Hmmm. Not breakfast. It’s afternoon.”

Something soft hit his head. It was one of her throw pillows. Instead of flinging it back at her, like she expected, he simply put it under his head and threw her a victorious smirk that earned him an eye-roll. Satisfied with his situation, he watched her pick up a brush and comb through her long hair, tousled and wavy from escaping her braid while she slept. It went down to her waist and his eyes followed her brush wander up and down, up and down, a methodical hypnosis luring him in.

For a few minutes, he was so focused on her hair that he didn’t even notice she wasn’t wearing any pants. He blinked a couple times, swallowed, and forced his eyes to the floor. But the damage was already done, the image of her navy-blue panties seared into his brain. He didn’t even have to wonder if her bra was in a matching color, because there it was, lying on the ground in his field of vision as if it was mocking him. Had she flung it there during the night? Had he slept here, clueless, while Astrid Hofferson had undressed right next to him until all she was wearing was panties and a t-shirt?

He couldn’t help himself, he had to look at her. It was impossible for him not to. When she inevitably noticed him staring, he blushed and deliberately averted his eyes.

“You know,” she said with a cheeky grin, “after all the tongue we shared last night, you’re allowed to look.”

He wanted to get up and share some more tongue then and there, but he didn’t have the courage to do it. Whatever had possessed him last night to kiss her (after he had so spectacularly ruined the moment the first time), it seemed to be dormant during the day. Late night decisions had a way of appearing sensible in the moment and showing their true ugly colors the next morning, or afternoon in this case. Luckily enough, Astrid didn’t seem embarrassed or regretful in any way. That had to count for something, right?

While she was taking a quick shower – that he had to force himself not to think about – he got dressed and flopped down onto her desk chair. He took it for a few spins until she returned with only a towel covering her body, her hair loose and dripping, almost giving him a heart attack. He quickly disappeared into the bathroom as well.

He met her in the kitchen where she was making coffee, dancing on the spot to last night’s playlist. While she was concentrated on that, her back to him, he stood in the doorway for a while, wrestling with his uncertainty about what to do and where they stood with each other now.

Finally mustering his courage, he walked up to her with the intention to casually slide his arms around her from behind. When he was almost there, however, arms ready to hug, all the bravery that had fueled him last night left him on the spot. Instead, he leaned on the counter next to her, close enough that he could put his chin on her shoulder like he’d done that morning before she’d fallen asleep in his arms. Goal achievement skills: pending.

“Do you think we should have even more caffeine?” he commented.

“You’re right,” she said and put three more spoons full of coffee powder into the machine. Ever since she’d woken up, she’d been wide awake, with only a moment to breathe in the shower where she’d had the chance to calm her fluttering heart. She wasn’t so sure if it was an after-effect of the many energy drinks she’d consumed in the span of one night or if the cause lay elsewhere. Probably both.

She’d thought she’d been prepared when she’d heard Hiccup walk towards her, but when his arm had touched hers and his face had appeared right next to her, her hand had briefly started shaking before she’d brought it back under control. Fortunately, she’d spilled the coffee powder directly over the brewer.

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

His voice was distractingly deep and gravelly, probably still from sleep and because he hadn’t had any water all night – should they have drunk more water, with all the pizza and sugar and caffeine? – and because he was half talking into her shoulder.

“Don’t be such a baby, Waluigi.”

“Me?!” She almost pouted when his voice sounded a little clearer. “That’s rich, coming from a literal baby, _Baby Peach_!”

“I’ll have you know that this baby won last night.”

The downside of only two cups of coffee running through the machine was that they were doing so way too fast. She dreaded the moment they were done and she had no excuse to lean here against Hiccup anymore. Whatever had happened between them, it apparently hadn’t been limited to only last night.

“Yeah, because this baby cheated.”

Shaking her head, she turned towards him, finding him way closer than she was prepared for. She could see the thoughts scurry over his face like shadows fleeing from the sun, could feel his breath on her skin. Her heart beat faster when she smelled his minty toothpaste.

“Are you ever gonna let that go?” she murmured, eyes flickering between his eyes and mouth.

“Are you confessing?”

“No.”

“Then I’m not… gonna…” He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. The last drops of coffee trickled into the can. It fell on deaf ears.

This kiss was far more innocent in nature than the previous one. It lasted only a few seconds and ended in hands resting on arms and shoulders and touching foreheads. The playlist with music from the seventies was still on in the background and Astrid was sure she would always associate it with this moment from now on, as well as baking pizza, dancing in her small kitchen and taking Mario Kart way too seriously.

“You cheated.”

“No.”

“Yes.” His voice was so deep again and she wanted him to keep talking forever.

“Did not.”

“Yes, did.”

“Nope.”

“You cheated.”

Opening her eyes and seeing him so comfortable in a t-shirt, sweatpants, and the fluffy dragon slippers that he stole from her and that were way too small for him made her heart jump.

“So… What now?”

He looked at her with a serious expression. “Now you go to trial.”

She punched him on the arm and while he was busy gaping at her mock-offendedly, she backed away to the other end of the room and jumped on the chair furthest from him. “I’m not going to jail!”

He snorted. “And you think you’re safe over there?”

Crossing her arms, she gave him a challenging look. “Come try and get me.”

“Nah.” He opened her cupboard and reached for the largest mug he could find, filling it to the brim with coffee so that there was nothing left for another cup. Then he turned around and lifted it to his lips, eyebrows raised, waiting for her to give up first.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You wouldn’t.”

“I will. Unless you come here and face your sentence for cheating.”

“Never!”

“Okay, then.” Without breaking eye contact, Hiccup gulped down the entire cup of hot, black coffee, his smug expression morphing into a grimace as he tried to suppress a shiver. But he kept going until he slammed the empty mug onto the counter with a cry of disgust.

“And now you lost your only leverage.”

“But – _gah!_ – but unlike you, I can always just leave while you have to camp out on your stupid chair all day.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Say, _hypothetically_ , that I do answer for the crimes I haven’t committed. What would my sentence look like?”

Hiccup hummed in thought, taking his sweet time to answer. The chair hadn’t been very expensive, wobbling every time she shifted her weight. The only thing keeping her here was her stubbornness, really.

“If you plead guilty, you have to get me a second present for Christmas, too.”

That sounded manageable. She could just get him a roll of toilet paper or some grandma panties. For appearances’ sake, she pretended weighing out her options, before eventually jumping down from the chair. She crossed the room and punched him on the arm once more.

“ _Ouch!_ What was that for?!”

“Blackmailing me.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She met his innocent expression with an unimpressed look that softened at the edges the longer she was exposed to the radiance of his smile. She could already tell that his mere joy and excitement was going to be a weak spot of hers. How had she ever been able to withstand it before?

“You’re impossible.”

“And yet you still haven’t thrown me out of your house.”

“I can still do that.”

“Then do it.”

She bit her lip. Was she actually considering it, just so she wouldn’t have to back down from his deliberate provocation? But wouldn’t that mean to let him win because she reacted to his challenge exactly as he thought she would?

With a frustrated groan, she moved to get the pizza out of the fridge and ignored Hiccup’s probably very smug grin. But when she glanced at him past the open fridge door, he was just looking at her with a soft smile.

“You’re really enjoying yourself there, aren’t you,” she asked and his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.

“Sorry, do you need my help with something?”

Her heart exploded from the sincerity in his voice, as if he was really concerned that he was being inconsiderate. “Yes, actually. Come here and I’ll show you.”

Now his expression grew wary. “Is this going to hurt?”

“Only if you keep hesitating.”

Still suspicious, he cautiously approached her, blinking in surprise when she gave him a peck on the cheek.

“Thank you, that will be all for now.” With that, she spun on her heels and went about heating the pizza in the microwave.

“Is it always going to be like this from now on?” Hiccup asked, carefully reaching for her hand. She pretended to swat it away, but couldn’t find it in herself to go through with it, instead interweaving their fingers and squeezing them once.

“I’d like to try and see where it goes.”

He squeezed her hand back and met her eyes with a dazzling smile. “Me too.”

* * *

“Ho-ho-ho!”

Five pairs of eyes turned to the door of Snotlout’s living room where an inebriated Tuffnut was leaning against the frame to hold himself upright. He was wearing a Santa costume that he was clearly not the target audience for, and tied to one of his dreadlocks with a rubber band was a rumpled-looking mistletoe.

“Did you steal that from one of the hookers down the street?” Astrid asked, taking in the red leather and white plush covering only a minimal part of Tuff’s body, showing more hair than anyone present was comfortable with.

“Five bucks at the dollar store,” Ruff said, raising her hand for a high-five to Hiccup who was sitting next to her. He only pulled up an eyebrow at her and Ruff shrugged, high-fiving herself. Hiccup shot Astrid a meaningful look and she grinned back. He didn’t have to say anything.

Tuff sashayed over in his crocs, producing a large paper bag from behind his back and making a big show of dropping it on the table. Inside were the Christmas presents they had all gotten each other and had put on the kitchen table when they arrived so they could hand them over later that night.

“Ho-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!” Tuff slurred. He’d clearly had too much of the egg-nog Astrid had brought – actually, if she thought about it, he’d been the only one drinking it. No surprise that he was wasted; she’d spiked it with rum, vodka, and beer, after all. Even she herself hadn’t had the chance to try it, which was a shame. It had looked delicious.

“Dude!” Snotlout complained, leaning away from Tuff whose mid-section was way closer to him than he would have liked. “Get your testicles out of my face!” He shoved Tuff so he fell backwards into the armchair that Fishlegs was currently occupying.

With a horrified expression, Fishlegs tried to push their slutty Santa out of his lap. Ruff whipped out her phone and took a whole series of pictures while Hiccup got up and helped maneuver Tuff into an empty chair. When Santa had his own chair, he flopped down on the couch next to Astrid who reclined into his side. She couldn’t wait to give him his present.

“Okay, let’s start!” she exclaimed cheerily. “Who wants to go first?”

“Oh, me! Me! Pick me!”

She rolled her eyes. “Fine, Tuff goes first.”

While presents were being exchanged, Hiccup’s arm curled around Astrid’s side and it felt like it had always belonged there. It stayed there the entire time, even when he was opening presents. He just had to wrap her closer into his embrace to use both his hands properly, but it wasn’t like she was complaining.

After most presents had been opened, she didn’t want to wait anymore. She reached into the plastic bag and produced the extra present she had gotten for Hiccup, true to her word. Spotting the cheeky look in her eyes, he knew what she was up to and grabbed the extra present that he had to give her for her victory.

“Here you go, cheater,” he said and she huffed in fond exasperation. Well, every great victory came with a sacrifice, she thought, and now she had to live with the consequences. He handed her the slightly bulky package that looked suspiciously like the one she handed him in return. Even the gift wrap was the same.

With a sense of foreboding, she removed the paper – and burst out laughing. Hiccup joined in only a moment later, holding up the little Baby Peach plushie she’d bought at the same store he must have gotten her new Waluigi plushie from.

She buried her face in his shoulder in an attempt to stop the giggles that started anew every time she looked at their matching presents. When she looked up again, Hiccup was smiling at her lopsidedly.

“Thank you. I’ve always wanted a Baby Peach plushie.”

“You’re welcome.” She had to bite her lip to prevent herself from laughing, the serious tone of his voice in contrast to his expression too tempting. “How did you know I’ve always wanted to put a Waluigi toy on my shelf so it can watch me in my sleep with that creepy grin?”

He shrugged. “Who doesn’t want that? You can’t return it, by the way.”

“Why would I ever return it?” she asked, completely earnest, and watched the mirth in his eyes turn into that soft adoration that never failed to make her knees go weak. She was glad she was sitting down.

They met in the middle, melting into each other, ignoring the protests coming from Snotlout’s general direction.

“Come on, guys, do you have to do that all the time?”

“I think it’s cute,” Fishlegs countered.

“Yeah,” Ruffnut chimed in, “just because you’ve never kissed a girl, you don’t have to ruin it for others.”

“Excuse me, I have so kissed girls!”

“Your mom doesn’t count,” it came from Tuff who was slouching in his chair, still wearing that ridiculous costume.

“I wasn’t talking about my mom, and will you please put on some pants, dude?!”

Astrid broke away from Hiccup, sharing one last knowing gaze with him before turning back to their friends. “Snotlout, one day you will find someone to play Mario Kart with, too.”

“Yeah,” Tuff drawled, “I still don’t believe that’s what you did. I think you just–“ He smacked his hands together repeatedly.

“I guess you’ll never know,” Hiccup said and even winked at Astrid for good measure. She grinned. Messing with their friends was still the most fun when they did it together.

Later that night, when Hiccup was dropping her off at her house, she couldn’t shake the giddiness that wouldn’t stop overcoming her at any given moment ever since that night a few weeks ago. It felt like the caffeine she’d ingested into her system back then had never left her body, pumping through her veins with every beat of her heart.

Regarding the Waluigi plushie in her hand, she decided this night wasn’t over yet. She nudged her boyfriend with the toy and challenged him with a suggestive grin. “Wanna come inside and play some Mario Kart?”


End file.
